54 Years in the Making by Jackie Ayling (A-Shift Production)
Editors note: With Jackie’s approval, in order to explain why it took so long to spend a Christmas with her father, she has shared this information: When Jackie was an infant, just a few days old, her mother took her and ran off with another man, leaving Jackie’s fa- ther, Robert, who was in the British Air Force with no idea as to what happened to his wife and baby. Eighteen months later, authorities located them and to her father’s heartbreak, found his wife had made a new life and wanted nothing to do with him. Although it was difficult to accept this, Robert chose to honor the request and never knew anything further about his daughter. Jackie was unaware of this until she was 16 years old at which time she found out the man who had raised her was her step-father. When Jackie’s mother passed away 14 years ago, Jackie decided it was time to try to find her birthfather. It took her quite some time to locate him and when she did, she decided to write a letter. Jackie could not bring herself to mail the letter, however, worrying about intruding in his life. Finally after nearly 6 months, she mailed the letter. When her father received the letter, he later told her “he thought he had won the lotto” because he finally knew what happened to his daughter. This begins her story, at the age of 54, on the reason for her first Christmas with her father.
Jackie Ayling and her father, Robert
On March 16, 2014 at about 8:30 AM our time, my Dad who lives in Bradford, West Yorksire, England called me. Now, he calls me every Sunday at this time, so when I answered the phone I thought it was just another Sunday. This time he was all excited and told me that he wanted to fulfill his last wish – which was to have one Christmas with his daughter. He had the dates planned for December 17th and to stay until January 5, 2015. Dad said that he’d waited 54 years and said he wasn’t getting any younger, so now was the time. So as the months went by we got his room ready for his stay with new paint, flooring and bedroom furniture. I was still getting my Sunday morning phone calls from Dad, with him getting more excited as the date got closer. Now it is Dec. 16th, my last day at work as I had saved all my vacation time and personal time so that I could be off the same time he was going to be here. The house was decorated for Christmas and gift shopping was done. I had a banner made for him announcing his first Christmas with me hanging on the wall. Now it was Dec. 17th, the day to go and pick him up at Rockford Clock Tower Inn as he had taken the bus from the airport. We arrived at the Clock Tower at about 5:30 PM and walked down the hallway looking for him. In the lounge area we saw a man looking out of the window. I called out and he turned around and we gave each other a big hug. Now it was time to bring his wish to life. I would like to thank Erika Meiners for letting me bring my Father to the Christmas dinner. He enjoyed meeting my supervisors and my co-workers while enjoying the meal. We made plans for him to meet his extended family. We made reservations to have supper at the Asian buffet on Dec. 20th to meet with my sons, Robert and his friend Josh, and my older son John, his wife Lynne and their four daughters, my granddaughters. These of course, are his great-granddaughters. The oldest he met in 2004 when she was 3 years old, now thirteen, and the others he saw for the first time. There were 14 of us there that evening and it was a wonderful evening. We had two mornings of going out for breakfast, meeting my good friend Jan. My Dad asks about her when he calls on Sundays as I have breakfast with her on most Saturday mornings. On Dec. 22nd Dad wanted me to take him Christmas shopping as he wanted something under the tree for my husband and me. He enjoyed his day out and was amazed how quiet our roads are, since he lives in the city of Bradford, England. He also found our land very flat compared to his home area.
4 Crest Ink April, May & June 2015
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